If you are thinking of buying a used car in New Zealand you should make sure you know what you're getting before you drive it away. Here are some useful steps to help you.

Pre-purchase inspection

If you’re not mechanically minded it pays to get your car checked out professionally before you buy it. You can do this at a mechanics or the Automobile Association. They should check the mechanics, body, electrics and take it for a road test. A pre-purchase inspection costs between $100-$135.

History check

You can get a history check on the vehicle to find out if the car is stolen and if there are outstanding fines. If there are outstanding debts on the car it could be repossessed.

A history check will cost between $20-$30 and can be done online by providing the vehicles plate number.

The Consumer Institute recommends the following history check services.

AA LemonCheck
AutocheckExtra
Vehicle Information Report (VIR)

Paperwork

The car should have a current Warrant of Fitness (WoF) that is less than one month old. Otherwise you could end up spending a lot of money on repairs to get a new warrant.

If it does not have a WoF you need to sign a ‘as is, where is’ and get it inspected straight away as it is illegal to drive without a warrant.

You should also request service or repair history records from the seller.

Change of ownership

If you buy a car privately both the seller and the buyer must independently notify Land Transport New Zealand of the change of ownership within seven days of the sale.

You will need to fill in a change of ownership section on the vehicle’s Certificate of Registration (which should be provided by the seller). You will need to produce identification.

Note: If you buy a car through a vehicle dealer they should notify the change of ownership for you. But it pays to check independently.

Used car safety ratings

You can check the car safety ratings of passenger vehicles built between 1982-2005. It shows how safe 279 common Australian and New Zealand used-vehicle models are likely to be in a crash.

You can search the LTSA used car safety ratings by make or model.

Find out more